, 1887-08-11
How TO LgARN TO SWIM.
Boys and Girls who Want to Woo the
Waves Should Carefully Road ThIa

SAAA' - ahN ~ WOO ZIG
Waves should Carefully Read This.
Books are full of elaborate directions
for learning to swim, and in the large
cities there are schools where the art can
be acquired at all seasons of the year, but
it is safe to say that any child having or
binary courage can safely be taught or
can teach himself to swim by the follow
ing simple method:
Find a place where the water deepens
gradually, as an ordinary beach. Often
in a small stream there are pools nowhere
too deep for safety. Procure a band or
belt to go around the bust under the
arms, with small bands over the shoul-
ders TO keep it from slipping down. To
this belt attach q safety line of such
length that the learner cannot go into the
water deeper than the waist.
The first thing to be done is to learn to
duck without minding it. Hold your
breath and put your head under water
several times whenever you battle. You
may probably strangle a bit at first, but
the ducking will become less and less
disagreeable until the Discrimination to 90
under water nearly or quite disappears.
of course the bather need not make a
martyr of himself by spending his whole
time in the practice of ducking. He
may splash about as much as he likes.
Some acquire the necessary indifference
to being under water almost at once.
Whom it is acquired let the bather select
a place whore the water is lust deer
enough for him to sit upon the bottom
with head and shoulders out of water.
Then let him take a full breath. distend.
ing the lungs, and, placing his arms by
his sides, lie down on his back on the
bottom. If unsuccessful, partially expel
the air from the lungs and try again.
After having found out by actual expert
ment how easy it is to lie down on your
back under water, go out to the full
length of your rope and, holding your
breath, pull yourself in toward the shore,
hand over hand, not letting your feet
touch bottom on any account until your
breath gives out or you run aground.
No matter whether you go under water
or not, no matter whether you keep YOUR
self right side up or not, go right on
hauling yourself toward the shore, hand
over hand, till you reach shoal water.
When you can run yourself ashore
with ease and certainty you will prob
ably have discovered that most of the
passage is made at or near the surface of
the water, and possibly you will have
learned after a fashion to keep your bal
N and pull yourself ashore with YOUR
nose above water. When you can do
this, you a breathe through your nose
during the passage, and as soon as you
can breathe comfortably while hauling
yourself ashore you are ready for the
next step, namely, try to pull yourself
ashore using one hand for the rope and
padding with the other hand. This is
not n very easy thing to do, and in all
probability before you can accomplish it
you will find yourself padding with both
hands and kicking with both feet-that
is to say. swimming. As soon as you
find that you can keep yourself right
side up, and your eyes and nose above
water, you have learned the great secret,
and swimming with the most approved
and scientific stroke will follow, accord
ing to your opportunities and ambition.
These hints are intended to meet the
most difficult case possible, namely, that
of a boy who is obliged to depend alto
gether upon his own resources. If he
has some n to help and advise, so much
the better. He will probably learn to
swim the quicker, but he must haul HIM
self ashore or the object of the lesson will
be lost.
These directions are based upon the
well established fact that no one can be q
confident swimmer who is disconnected
at finding himself unexpectedly under
water. Therefore the first thing to be
learned is to catch the breath instinctively
under any and all circumstances the in
stant you find yourself going under water.
Strangulation occurs in consequence of
drawing water with the breath into the
air passages, and even partial strangula-
ton is unpleasant. The first thing, then,
for the would be swimmer to learn is to
instinctively keep water out of the wind
Pipe. This can best be lone by frequent
voluntary duckings.
In the rough swimming school of boy
hood forcible duckings, often to the verge
of cruelty and danger, are frequent Incl
dents, and any preliminary practice will
be an excellent breaking in for what
most boys are likely to encounter.
The succeeding steps are intended to
teach the beginner by experiencing that
his body is really lighter than water and
will float with a trifling amount Of aid
from air in the lungs and from mechani-
cal assistance with the hands and feet.
Once learned this lesson is never for
gotten, and after a little practice in diving
anu WINNING ulueF WAFER tne NOVICE
will find himself gaining a degree of con-
fidence that is indispensable for satisfac-
tory swimming.
The foregoing is intended for girls and
women as well as for boys and men.
Women are usually, for obvious reasons,
a little reluctant to wet their hair. They
often learn to swim easily and gracefully
without knowing how to hold the breath.
1t follows, of course that when they find
themselves doused suddenly into the
water from an overturned boat, or other
wise plunged unexpectedly beneath the
surface, they become partly strangled,
lose all presence of mind and are not bet
ter off than if they could not swim a
stroke. Let it then be borne in mind by
all swimmers that the best way to learn
how TO swim is first to learn how to sink.
Charles Ledger Norton in New York
Mail and Express.
The Republic of Venezuela.